| 2021 MLS Expansion Draft | |
| Date: | December 14, 2021 |
| Overall: | 5 |
| Rounds: | 5 |
| Expansion Teams: | Charlotte FC |
| Expansion Season: | 2022 |
| Prev: | 2020 |
| Next: | 2022 |
The 2021 MLS Expansion Draft was a special draft for the Major League Soccer expansion team Charlotte FC that was held on December 14, 2021. The list of exposed players was revealed on December 13, 2021.[1] The picks were made on December 14, 2021 at 7:00 PM ET with Charlotte selecting McKinze Gaines, Anton Walkes, Joseph Mora, Tristan Blackmon, and Ismael Tajouri-Shradi.[2]
Teams who had players selected in the 2020 MLS Expansion Draft are exempt. These teams are San Jose Earthquakes, New York Red Bulls, Nashville SC, LA Galaxy, and Orlando City SC. All other teams from the 2021 season are subject to the draft. These teams have 12 protection slots that they may apply to any draft eligible player on their senior, supplemental, and reserve rosters. Players who have not graduated from Generation Adidas, and homegrown players age 25 and under as of the end of the 2021 season are not eligible for the draft. Players with contracts expiring at the end of the season, designated players, and players with no-trade clauses are part of a team's roster and are eligible for the draft. In the case of player's with no-trade clauses, a team must use one of their protection slots for that player. If a team has a players selected in the draft, that team becomes exempt from any further picks in the draft. The expansion team, Charlotte FC was given 5 picks for the draft.[3]
| Pick | MLS team | Player | Previous team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McKinze Gaines | Austin FC | ||
| 2 | Anton Walkes | Atlanta United FC | ||
| 3 | Joseph Mora | D.C. United | ||
| 4 | Tristan Blackmon | Los Angeles FC | Traded to Vancouver Whitecaps FC in exchange for $475,000 of General Allocation Money.[4] | |
| 5 | Ismael Tajouri-Shradi | New York City FC | Traded to Los Angeles FC in exchange for $400,000 of General Allocation Money.[5] |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Mo Adams |
| Mikey Ambrose |
| Josh Bauer |
| Jürgen Damm |
| Alex DeJohn |
| Ronald Hernández |
| Emerson Hyndman |
| Alec Kann |
| Erik López |
| Ben Lundgaard |
| Jake Mulraney |
| Amar Sejdič |
| Erick Torres |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Jon Gallagher |
| Danny Hoesen |
| Hector Jiménez |
| Freddy Kleemann |
| Kekuta Manneh |
| Will Pulisic |
| Aaron Schoenfeld |
| Brady Scott |
| Ulises Segura |
| Aedan Stanley |
| Jared Stroud |
| Ben Sweat |
| Andrew Tarbell |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Robert Berić |
| Francisco Calvo |
| Elliot Collier |
| Johan Kappelhof |
| Kenneth Kronholm |
| Álvaro Medrán |
| Bobby Shuttleworth |
| Luka Stojanović |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Edgar Castillo |
| Allan Cruz |
| Chris Duvall |
| Jonas Fjeldberg |
| Avionne Flanagan |
| Joe Gyau |
| Yuya Kubo |
| Ben Lundt |
| Kamohelo Mokotjo |
| Caleb Stanko |
| Przemysław Tytoń |
| Florian Valot |
| Maikel van der Werff |
| Kenneth Vermeer |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Dominique Badji |
| Steven Beitashour |
| Clint Irwin |
| Jeremy Kelly |
| Nicolás Mezquida |
| Drew Moor |
| Younes Namli |
| Andre Rawls |
| Diego Rubio |
| Collen Warner |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Saad Abdul-Salaam |
| Harrison Afful |
| Evan Bush |
| Eric Dick |
| Waylon Francis |
| Marlon Hairston |
| Erik Hurtado |
| Perry Kitchen |
| Grant Lillard |
| Kevin Molino |
| Josh Williams |
| Vito Wormgoor |
| Bradley Wright-Phillips |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Ramón Ábila |
| Yamil Asad |
| Jovanny Bolívar |
| Frédéric Brillant |
| Michael DeShields |
| Jon Kempin |
| Felipe |
| Júnior Moreno |
| Chris Odoi-Atsem |
| Yordy Reyna |
| Chris Seitz |
| Drew Skundrich |
| Kimarni Smith |
| Erik Sorga |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Bryan Acosta |
| Bressan |
| Caiser Gomes |
| Phelipe Megiolaro |
| Andrés Ricaurte |
| Freddy Vargas |
| Kyle Zobeck |
| Exposed | |
|---|---|
| Jamal Blackman | |
| Daniel Crisostomo | |
| Raheem Edwards | |
| Julian Gaines | |
| Francisco Ginella | |
| Jordan Harvey | |
| Sebastien Ibeagha | |
| Cal Jennings | |
| Danny Musovski | |
| Michee Ngalina | |
| Alvaro Quezada | |
| Diego Rossi | |
| Mohamed Traore |
| Exposed |
|---|
| George Acosta |
| Ventura Alvarado |
| Dylan Castanheira |
| Jay Chapman |
| Sami Guediri |
| Joevin Jones |
| Kelvin Leerdam |
| Blaise Matuidi |
| John McCarthy |
| Josh Penn |
| Patrick Seagrist |
| Ryan Shawcross |
| Brek Shea |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Sebastian Breza |
| Rudy Camacho |
| Bjørn Johnsen |
| Mustafa Kizza |
| Ismaël Koné |
| Emanuel Maciel |
| Aljaž Struna |
| Ballou Tabla |
| Róbert Thorkelsson |
| Victor Wanyama |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Emmanuel Boateng |
| Luis Caicedo |
| Scott Caldwell |
| A. J. DeLaGarza |
| Earl Edwards Jr. |
| Wilfrid Kaptoum |
| Edward Kizza |
| Brad Knighton |
| Christian Mafla |
| Arnor Traustason |
| Collin Verfurth |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Malte Amundsen |
| Vuk Latinovich |
| Jesús Medina |
| Alexandru Mitriță |
| Cody Mizell |
| Maximiliano Moralez |
| Tony Rocha |
| Guðmundur Þórarinsson |
| Anton Tinnerholm |
| Juan Pablo Torres |
| Gedion Zelalem |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Matheus Davó |
| Joe Bendik |
| Jesús Bueno |
| Cory Burke |
| Aurelien Collin |
| Stuart Findlay |
| Ilsinho |
| Matej Oravec |
| Gino Portella |
| Alvas Powell |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Jeff Attinella |
| Pablo Bonilla |
| Steve Clark |
| George Fochive |
| Jorge Gonzalez |
| Aljaž Ivačič |
| Ismaila Jome |
| Larrys Mabiala |
| Zac McGraw |
| Manny Perez |
| Andy Polo |
| Diego Valeri |
| Josecarlos Van Rankin |
| Renzo Zambrano |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Toni Datković |
| Everton Luiz |
| Douglas Martínez |
| Justin Meram |
| Ashtone Morgan |
| Justin Portillo |
| Noah Powder |
| Andrew Putna |
| Jeizon Ramírez |
| Donny Toia |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Nicolas Benezet |
| Will Bruin |
| Abdoulaye Cissoko |
| Stefan Cleveland |
| Jordy Delem |
| Fredy Montero |
| Shane O'Neill |
| Spencer Richey |
| Kelyn Rowe |
| Brad Smith |
| Andrew Thomas |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Amadou Dia |
| Luís Martins |
| Roberto Punčec |
| Ilie Sánchez |
| Graham Smith |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Nick DeLeon |
| Dom Dwyer |
| Tsubasa Endoh |
| Omar Gonzalez |
| Kemar Lawrence |
| Patrick Mullins |
| Kevin Silva |
| Eriq Zavaleta |
| Exposed |
|---|
| Bruno Gaspar |
| Derek Cornelius |
| David Egbo |
| Janio Bikel |
| Marcus Godinho |
| Érik Godoy |
| Florian Jungwirth |
| Jasser Khmiri |
| Evan Newton |
| Leonard Owusu |
| Tosaint Ricketts |
| Andy Rose |
| Russell Teibert |